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June 27, 2005

Anamorphic Pavement Art

Julian Beever is an English artist who’s famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, US, Australia and Belgium.

Beever's drawings are anamorphic and contain a distorted aspect ratio. To accomplish this, he creates compositions completly in diforms that give a 3D image when viewed from the right angle. It is a very nifty trick of perspective.

The art of anamorphism really evolved as optical devices were developed: mirrors, metal orbs, prisms, lenses, etc. These enabled artists and scientists to explore the boundaries of what is seen (in terms of optical data) and what is perceived (in terms of cognitive powers) and what is understood (in terms of synthesis and meaning).

One of the most famous instances of such anamorphic tricks is the masterwork of the English painter, Holbein the Younger. The painting below hangs in the Tate Gallery in London.

As one observes the large painting titled The Ambassadors painted in 1533, one finds a bizarre strip of motled greys and browns stretched diagonally at the feet of the two figures. (image from www.artchive.com)

Since the mind's eye cannot discern what three-dimensional object the marks are intended to represent (a rag? a leaping cat?), the brain instantly filters it out and focuses on more understandable data, mostly faces and hands.

However, as the viewer walks past the painting at just the right angle--BAM!--there is a flash of something, an object that has come to represent the dark current underlying all life: death in the shape of a human skull. And, even if the viewer does not consciously register the sinister detail, it no doubt makes a subliminal impression.

The modern painter David Hockney reveals many of the techniques employed by the old masters including the use of mirrors and various
optical devices such as the camera obscura. With this room-sized device, the artist was able to project images onto their
canvasses and then "trace" the scenes.

This process is aptly illustrated in the recent film, The Girl with the the Pearl Earring, about the Dutch master, Vermeer.

What they learned are still in use today. Everything from street signs to IMAX theaters and widescreen televisions make use of anamorphic distortions.

Oblique anamorphosis is closely related to an artistic technique
called trompe l'oeil (French for "deceiving the eye",
pronounced "tromp loy"). Both use perspective constructions to create
a "trick" image, but the difference lies in the nature of the
trick. For an anamorphosis, the viewer is presented with something
that does not make sense when viewed conventionally, and so he or she
must seek out the unconventional viewpoint from which the trick is
resolved. For trompe l'oeil, the viewer, standing in one particular
(and usually conventional) place, is tricked into seeing an invented
image as if it were reality.

Comments

Peter:
This is a fascinating item. When I received an an email with pictures of Beever's sidewalk work about six months ago, I told the sender that these were obvious fakes: that the perspective on them was so deep that the artist would have had to project the distorted images dozens of feet out onto the sidewalk, that you could have only 'seen' them correctly from one vantage point, etc. All I can say is - wow!

Peter:
This is a fascinating item. When I received an an email with pictures of Beever's sidewalk work about six months ago, I told the sender that these were obvious fakes: that the perspective on them was so deep that the artist would have had to project the distorted images dozens of feet out onto the sidewalk, that you could have only 'seen' them correctly from one vantage point, etc. Wow - I stand corrected!